Repton in the context of "Kingdom of Mercia"

Mercia (/ˈmɜːrsiə, -ʃə/) was one of the principal kingdoms founded at the end of Sub-Roman Britain; the area was settled by Anglo-Saxons in an era called the Heptarchy. It was centred on the River Trent and its tributaries, in a region now known as the Midlands of England.

The royal court moved around the kingdom without a fixed capital city. Early in its existence Repton seems to have been the location of an important royal estate. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, it was from Repton in 873–874 that the Great Heathen Army deposed the King of Mercia. Slightly earlier, King Offa seems to have favoured Tamworth. It was there where he was crowned, and where he resided during multiple Christmases.

South Derbyshire is a local government district in Derbyshire, England. The district covers the towns of Melbourne and Swadlincote as well as numerous villages and hamlets such as Hilton, Hatton, Etwall, Aston-on-Trent, Repton, Weston-on-Trent and Willington. About a third of the National Forest lies within the district.

The neighbouring districts are Derbyshire Dales, Amber Valley, Derby, Erewash, North West Leicestershire, Lichfield and East Staffordshire.

Beornred (Old English: Beornrǣd) (? – 757) was a Mercian Thane who was briefly King of Mercia in 757. Beornred ascended the throne following the murder of King Æthelbald. However, he was defeated by Offa and forced to flee the country, and was killed that same year. There is very little information about him, and the mentions of him are commonly brief.

According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in 757: "...Æthelbald, king of Mercia, was killed at Seckington, and his body rests at Repton; and he ruled 41 years. And then Beornred succeeded to the kingdom, and held it a little while and unhappily; and that same year Offa put Beornred to flight and succeeded to the kingdom, and held it for 39 years..." According to Ingulf, an 11th-century Benedictine abbot, Beornred was regarded as a tyrant, while Roger of Wendover, a thirteenth-century chronicler, states that he was an unjust king and that the people of Mercia rose in rebellion against him. He was possibly involved in his predecessor's death. According to Professor Michelle P. Brown, Beornred has been considered by some historians to have been part of the same dynasty as Beorhtric of Wessex, as well as several other prominent Anglo-Saxon nobles whose names begin with the letter B.